Chris Granger / The Times-PicayuneJames Posey is sure to be a fan favorite this year.

As I sit here in the New Orleans Arena watching the Hornets polish off a 104-92 home victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers and contemplate what I have seen tonight, I can't help feeling the New Orleans Hornets may have turned a corner.

Of course for a team fresh off a Southwest Division championship, that kind of comment deserves some clarification.

Okay, a lot of clarification.

When I say "turning the corner," I flat-out mean this is a group of players that has the look of a poised and determined team. That wasn't always the case last year. And while I never got the sense the '07-08 Hornets were going to concede any given game, I also didn't know whether they had enough to win it all. In other words, I'm saying the Hornets look like a championship contender ... rather than simply a playoff contender.

The difference is subtle, and maybe I'm full of crap about this, but there are a couple of things I saw in person tonight that make me think differently.

The most important thing to look at, first of all, was who wasn't playing, and how well the team played in their absence. With Peja Stojakovic and Tyson Chandler scratched due to ankle sprains, the Hornets knew coming into this game they'd have to piece together a lineup. What's worse, they had to know what kind of effect losing Chandler had on the team last year (hint: it wasn't good).

But the Cavs didn't take advantage. Or perhaps more accurately, they couldn't take advantage.

Buoyed by a fantastic defensive effort by James Posey (who finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals all the while guarding LeBron James much of the night ... and who he harassed into 6-of-15 shooting) and another workmanlike effort from Hilton Armstrong down low (is he this year's most improved Hornet so far?), New Orleans kept Cleveland from dominating the low post with great defensive pressure and fine work on the boards.

Makes no mistake, this is a solid Cleveland team. So solid in fact, that two of our writers picked the Cavaliers to represent the East in the NBA Finals. And yet the Hornets, without two of their best players, never flinched.

Heck, forget flinching, they came out and stepped on the Cavs' neck in the fourth quarter, outscoring LeBron James and co. 31-20 in the final period to wrap up the win.

Now, I'm not going to go ahead and declare them NBA champs. It's too early for that (way too early). But the thing about this team that is impressing me most right now, the thing that has me regretting my pick of Boston as NBA champion, and the thing that most has me most convinced the Hornets have taken a step forward this year (even if their final record doesn't reflect it) is the simple fact they came out sloppy and won anyway (going away).

So many times last year it seemed like the Hornets had to throw everything they had into a game just to eek out a win. I probably can't even count the number of last-minute big shots the team had to take (and often make) in order to prevail. And that was almost always with the team at full strength as injuries were rarely a factor in '07-08. Last year, the team was frantic and frenetic off the bench, with players like Jannero Pargo and Julian Wright scoring points because they had to. This year, the bench is doing a decent enough job (Posey's excellence notwithstanding), but there's no pressure there. They can under-perform or struggle to score, and you never get a sense of urgency when it happens.

The team knows it can overcome dry spells. It knows it can win without its best effort. And it knows there are ultimately bigger fish to fry than an opponent in November (as evidenced by the decision to hold Chandler and Stojakovic out).

And still the Hornets won ... against one of the best teams the East has to offer.

The difference? Call it the "playoff" factor. Fresh off a playoff run last spring, the guys on the team have been through the big games. They've experienced the highs and lows. And they added a world champion in James Posey -- and if you don't think the team will take its cues from his spirited play, you haven't been watching the team's first three games.

It all adds up to a potentially deep playoff run, and that should be music to any Hornets fan's ears.